Bruins-Canucks, Playoff Beards Meet in Stanley Cup Finals

When the Stanley Cup Playoffs began, there were 64 different possible combinations of teams that could end up in the Finals. Yes, there was a 1.5% chance the Canucks and Bruins would be the last teams remaining. Low and behold, Boston and Vancouver each reached the Finals and now we’re left with a matchup of dueling playoff beards between myself and Chad Margulius of IntheOT.com.

In case you’re unfamiliar with what’s going on, back on April 14th three men decided to grow out their playoff beards in support of their hockey team. Our buddy Arsen dropped out early on and his Red Wings lost in the next round. But Chad Margulius from IntheOT.com and I continued to grow out our beards and the superstition has paid off. Both of our teams have reached the Finals.

I don’t know about Chad because his beard looks smooth, but I feel like a total schub with mine. I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I feel like the ghost of a total stranger. Hopefully I’ll be able to shave in two weeks as a proud champion.

Chad has predicted the Canucks will win in six games. I’ll go with the Bruins in seven. Chad thinks the goaltender matchup is even, but he thinks Vancouver has the better scoring first line and that the Canucks are faster. He thinks Boston’s forwards 3-6 are better but that Boston is much weaker at less than even strength. For the rest of his analysis of the series, check out his site IntheOT.com.

I think the Bruins need to get inside Luongo’s head early in the series to rattle him. He almost fell apart a month ago against Chicago, and if the Bruins can do the same thing they’ll have a major advantage. I’m not as worried about the speed advantage for the Canucks because Tampa Bay was also faster than Boston. As long as the refs don’t call many penalties, leaving the teams at full strength, Boston should be fine.

In case you want to go back and look at the progress of our beards over time, here’s the background: